MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The UK insolvency regulator slapped top auditing firm Ernst and Young (EY) with a £250,000 fine ($391,000) over its failure to settle a conflict of interests at the failed Hellas Telecommunications company, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
According to the media outlet, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), a UK accounting regulator, also ordered EY to pay 95,000 pounds in costs and severely reprimanded the firm. The company’s global coordinating partner Margaret Mills was also reprimanded and ordered to pay a 15,000-pound fine.
The ICAEW accuses EY of breaking accountancy rules, after the firm became Hellas administrator less than in three years after an EY member firm was the auditor of the now-defunct company.
Hellas Telecommunications, which was one of Greece's largest telecom operators, went into administration in 2009, when Greece started feel the effects of its mounting debt burden.
